Developers offer plans for Coralville

CORALVILLE - On Tuesday, two teams of developers offered competing proposals for a major redevelopment of 60 acres in Coralville that took on several feet of water in the 2008 flood.

The neighborhood, which the city calls Old Town, is south of Fifth Street and north of Clear Creek between First Avenue and Biscuit Creek. It was home to houses, apartments and city buildings before the flood.

The city bought out the properties and now wants a neighborhood with public, residential and commercial space. Flood-mitigation projects have been undertaken in the area near the site, with more to come. Watts Team/Fusion Architects and Houser Enterprises/Baxter Construction are vying for the job.

Watts/Fusion representatives said they want their $40 million development to look, architecturally, like it had always been there.

It calls for a square with a plaza in the middle that includes an amphitheater and play area. A farmers market, ice rink and, during the holiday season, large Christmas tree could be included.

Surrounding the plaza would be three mid-rise buildings that would have 123 condominiums for sale or lease.

Elsewhere on the site would be seven turn-of-the-century-style row houses with about 40 town houses. In the future, a “game-day” condo building aimed at fans in town for Iowa football games could be constructed.

The developers would ask the city to pay for public parts of the project, like the amphitheater, a parking lot and trails. The cost of those is unknown, Gary Watts said.

The project has a five-year timeline, he said.

The Houser/Baxter team said their project would cost $55 million and have a minimum assessed value of $30 million.

They want a campus-town feel with two large buildings with 180 for-rent residential units surrounding a community plaza with a fountain in the center. The buildings would have green roofs, with vegetation on them, and be connected to a fitness center.

An amphitheater, clock tower and picnic pavilion are part of their plan, which calls for 63 percent of the site to be green space.

They said they could start construction this fall and be done in 13 months. A second phase, to be undertaken in 2015-16, calls for a building with high-end condos and more than 20,000-square-feet of office space.

They would seek a 10-year tax increment financing agreement with the city. Tony Baxter said the amount of the TIF is undetermined at this time, but he estimated the taxes on the property at up to $650,000 annually.

Mayor Jim Fausett said he expects the city to move fast on proceeding with the project, although the City Council does not have to pick one of the two proposals.

The council plans to discuss the proposals at a June 12 work session, Assistant City Administrator Ellen Habel said. She said the city would like construction to start by next spring.